A U.S. subsidiary of Belgium-based chemical manufacturer Solvay will spend nearly $393 million to remediate contamination from the ‘forever’ chemicals known as PFAS, which originated from its West Deptford, N.J., manufacturing facility, under a proposed deal announced June 28 by state Attorney General Matthew Platkin and New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette.

They said the settlement, if approved, would be the first of its kind to address PFAS contamination in the state and the largest single-site natural resources damages and remediation settlement in its history. “This settlement is a historic step that requires Solvay to finally take meaningful responsibility for PFAS and other contamination at their site,” Platkin said at a press briefing. 

The pact follows multi-billion-dollar settlements reached within the last several weeks with municipalities and water utilities by manufacturer 3M and by chemical maker Dupont and its spinoff firms.

PFAS are a class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances found in firefighting foam, as well as in common household products and industrial applications. The nearly ubiquitous chemicals are notoriously difficult to destroy and have been shown to cause cancer and other health problems in humans. 

The proposed settlement, to be released in full for public comment in early August, calls for Solvay Specialty Polymers USA LLC to fund and implement comprehensive remedial activities at and around its 243-acre facility in southern New Jersey, near the Delaware River, where industrial plastics, coatings, and other chemicals have been produced for more than 30 years. The firm acquired the plant as part of its purchase of another manufacturer in 2002.

In addition to PFAS, the facility discharged semi-volatile organic compounds, volatile organic compounds, metals and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into soil and groundwater, said state officials. 

Site Remediation, Water System Fixes = $100M

Solvay’s cleanup plan will be required to exceed current state standards and be able to accommodate potential stricter ones, where there is a direct connection to discharges from the site. 

In addition, the company must help fund public water system upgrades necessary to remove known PFAS contamination from drinking water, as well as investigate and address potential impacts to public water systems and private potable drinking water wells in and around West Deptford. 

The site cleanup and upgrades to water system in nine nearby towns, and private wells in five, make up about $100 million of the proposed settlement, according to the environmental department. Solvay also will be required to post $214 million to guarantee that the agency will have access to sufficient financial resources to complete cleanup should the company not meet ongoing remedial obligations.

Solvay will also compensate for environmental damage by providing $75 million for restoration projects identified by the department and cover about $3.7 million of past government costs related to PFAS-linked contamination of drinking water. 

The firm said in a statement that the agreement was the “latest step in our journey to responsibly manage” its chemical byproducts. But it also cited PFAS contamination related to chemicals it did not produce or stopped using, which was generated by other manufacturers in the West Deptford area. "Solvay will continue seeking to recover remediation costs from other sources,” it said.

The proposed settlement comes nearly three years after the state agency sued Solvay and the prior owner and operator of the West Deptford facility, in state court, seeking to compel swifter remediation action. 

State Takes Action

Solvay was also named in a March 2019 statewide department directive ordering companies responsible for PFAS contamination in New Jersey to address their contribution to degradation of regional potable groundwater and other natural resources. Although Solvay did not fully comply, it is the first of four companies named in the directive to reach a proposed settlement with the state.

In 2018, New Jersey was the first state to adopt a maximum contaminant level for three PFAS chemicals, as ENR reported, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency only this year proposing stricter national drinking water regulations that could take effect later this year or in early 2024.

More than 70 public water systems in New Jersey do not meet the current state health limits for regulated PFAS chemicals, LaTourette said.

Over the past four years, Solvay said it has taken steps to reduce impacts of PFAS at the plant—eliminating use of Surflon, a proprietary process aid that contained perfluorononanoic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid. The company also incorporated additional treatment measures into facility wastewater effluent streams. 

In a statement, Mike Finelli, Solvay's chief North America officer, noted the “collaborative approach taken by [the state environmental agency] to reach this agreement, allowing all parties to continue focusing on cleaning the environment." He said the firm has been “investigating and remediating PFAS in the environment near our West Deptford facility since 2013.” 

Solvay has worked with West Deptford officials to install a drinking water treatment system on a municipal well, added an engineered soil cap at its plant to prevent contaminant migration and built an offsite pump-and-treat system for affected groundwater, Finelli said.

Meanwhile, other states have gone to court over the past year seeking to hold chemical manufacturers liable for broader environmental damage resulting from PFAS use. 

North Carolina sued firms over contamination documented at locations across the state. In March, a state superior court judge rejected a motion by DuPont and Chemours to dismiss a state-brought lawsuit alleging PFAS discharges at the latter's production facility in Fayetteville.